The role reversal is complete. The Boston Bruins, once a laughinstock of the NHL, is now the class of the Eastern Conference on the ice and a model franchise off the rink with a stable front office and plenty of depth throughout the organization.

Taking the Bruins’ place as the biggest circus act going — the Ottawa Senators. Today the Sens, who sit in 13th in the East with a 17-24-7 record, fired head coach Craig Hartsburg and replaced him with former Binghamton (AHL) coach Cory Clouston. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun has complete details.

This was Hartsburg’s first season at the Sens’ helm. Ottawa last season gassed John Paddock in his first year behind its bench and general manager Bryan Murray coached out the rest of the season. So the team that actually reached the 2007 Stanley Cup final is now onto its fourth head coach in less than two whole seasons.

MK: Hate to tell Ottawa, but changing coaches every few months isn’t going to make up for the fact that Jason Spezza is, and always will be, a one-dimensional player you can’t build around. And it also won’t make up for their failure, in a league where every successful team builds from the goal out, to secure better netminders and Martin Gerber and Ray Emery over the last couple of years — not to mention their loss of Zdeno Chara, Wade Redden and others on the back end without getting anything in return. And, oh yeah, it wouldn’t hurt to actually draft better and build a farm system. But if the Sens want to keep blaming their coaches, well then ScotiaBank Place will continue to be a place teams go to steal two points with ease.